wookiewombat
11-30-2006, 05:48 PM
PART 1
this was written by a friend of a friend whos been Vegan longer then some of us have been born, but this is a really good read and it made me question a lot of things, especially being vegan
INTROSPECTIONS OF A VEGAN SELL-OUT
by Brad Dingman
INTRODUCTION
Food. No matter how far our species attempts to deviate from the natural order from which we are created, we can not get away from certain things. Like every other creature in the animal kingdom, the fact is that we need to eat in order to survive. And like all terrestrial organisms, from the tiniest microorganism to the largest mammal, it is through this link that we are completely and intimately connected to the soil and the sun’s energy, and thus the whole of life.
In modern times, and in the most nonsensical of ways, the life forms that we literally rely upon to survive, have been industrialized and oppressed in ways that are almost unspeakable to anyone who cares about nature. Add to this fact, as the food we consume has been increasingly processed and altered beyond the point of recognition, the human race has gotten sicker and weaker. These combined and inseparable phenomena have prompted a great many lost and confused people to search for answers about what our natural diet is supposed to look like. It is no wonder why diet fads change like the wind and on any given bookshelf labeled “nutrition”, one finds a plethora of diametrically opposing viewpoints about what that means.
After an estimated ten thousand years of dietary degeneration, some feel an answer has emerged to this crisis. And many feel that it is not just a possible answer, but in fact THE answer. It is a movement that has picked up quite a pace in a short couple of decades. It is a trend known as “veganism”.
As a self-proclaimed vegan for twelve years, I can speak endlessly about the benefits I have personally received from following such a lifestyle. I also can speculate with a fair degree of confidence the benefits veganism has to the animals and the environment. This is a topic that many words have been written about, and not the subject of this particular essay. However, it is worth sharing some of the lessons veganism has taught me.
It allowed me to begin making a connection to other aspects of creation. It taught me that not only are we humans animals, but that non-human animals are sentient creatures worthy of respect. It has taught me much about nutrition and lead to a much greater appreciation of what we put into our mouths. Veganism has contributed to an immeasurable increase in the value I personally place in the processes of life.
But there is one more lesson that veganism has directly taught me, that much to the dismay of the vegan community, belongs in an altogether different paragraph than the previous. What veganism has taught me, is that veganism is not “the” answer.
I have embarked upon writing this essay for too many reasons to attempt to articulate. I write it as a source of information for anyone in search of the “perfect” diet. I write it as a sort of rebuttal to many of the misdirected, if not falsified, arguments given to support veganism. (Many of which I have used myself.) I write in hopes of dispelling the myth that anyone who has evolved out of a strict vegan diet is uneducated and lacks conviction. But more than anything, I have come to believe that if people are feeling less than well due to their diet, they must be free to grow out of it without being ostracized by a culture of elitism.
The fact is that while the benefits of veganism are plentiful, it is simply not the only answer to the very complex question at hand. And in fact, it may not even be the most natural or healthful answer. For those of us who honestly care about food issues, animals, and the environment, we must step off the moral pedestals we have fooled ourselves into thinking we stand upon. It is in the interest of our health, in our future, that we embrace tolerance for those who share the same goals, even if not the exact diet.
THE EVOLUTION OF MAN
Not long ago, I was watching a documentary that showed footage of a hunt being carried out by one of the few remaining tribal people living in the Kalahari Desert. Without exaggeration, it left me in a state of awe. It was not because of watching such an alleged barbaric and cruel ritual. Quite the contrary, because it was so incredibly beautiful. Watching the hunter and prey engage in this rhythmic relationship where both parties were in total, unexplainable tune with each other. An eight-hour hunt, the whole while both parties living, breathing and sharing each other’s pain. I cannot think of any activity in modern civilization that even comes close to this closeness with nature.
When I compare this image to that of today’s vegan being glad that pop tarts are vegan and who feed their dogs tofu, it is almost laughable when the latter proclaims a moral superiority over the other. It shows a blatant disrespect for our ancestral roots; a disdain for true nature and an ignorance of science. To my knowledge, out of perhaps thousands of tribes documented from the past or present, there is not a single one that is vegan. And if such a culture ever did exist, it was such an isolated incident that it isn’t even worth noting in such a debate over man’s natural diet. The fact is when humans lived in most harmony with their environment before the dawn of totalitarian agriculture, there were as many described diets as cultures. They were hunters, gatherers, and on occasion, experimented with farming (a practice that was often abandoned when discovered unsustainable). And the one thing they had in common was that they were all omnivorous.
Upon examining the evidence, there is little doubt primitive man ate predominantly fruit, roots, tubers, succulent roots and bulbs, flowers, seeds, and other vegetation for the great majority of our evolutionary chain. It also seems they ate a lot of insects. There is also little doubt that they were opportunists and ate carrion when given the chance. For the great majority of human evolution, our ancestors were scavengers and ate what was available. And even if it was predominantly plants, anyone who claims that meat wasn’t even a small part of early man’s diet is living in a fantasy world. Hunting and fishing as a means to acquire food came later for mankind, but is an inseparable part of our evolutionary history being how long and how universal these practices are, especially when compared to our short time as agriculturists.
Like it or not, regardless of philosophical differences, we are genetically designed to consume at least a small proportion of animal products as did our primitive ancestors.
HUMAN BIOLOGY
Anthropologists and the like who study such things have discovered that primitive humans were taller, stronger, had denser bones and better teeth than modern man. Not only were they physically more robust, but also had little in the way of infectious diseases. Cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses were foreign, if not nonexistent.
We can most easily determine our dietary requirements by simple looking at the composition of our jaws. An adult human has 32 teeth, four of which are canines, the rest designed to process fruits, nuts, seeds, roots, etc. Herbivores don’t have canines. I read in a macrobiotic book once that the ratio of plants to meat that we should consume should be 7 to 1. According to our teeth, that’s about right.
An argument that is common for vegans to use is that our digestive tract is that of an herbivore. Carnivores have much shorter digestive tracts than humans do. I would agree with this statement if it were worded slightly different. Our digestive tracts are MORE like that of an herbivore. What this means is that we are omnivores. Our digestive tract may be better suited to process certain plant material. However, the Inuit people have proven the human ability to digest wild meat. Whale fat, seal meat, fish, and many organs and muscle from animals made up most of their traditional diets. (Despite popular belief, there is evidence that they did eat many plants as well.) Our digestive tract is quite an extraordinary system.
We have the stamina to potentially run long distances. We have brains to develop tools and skills to catch food. We have senses adequate to stalk and find it. We are opportunists in too many ways to dispute the point.
Our closest genetic relatives, the chimpanzees can teach us some lessons about diet as well. Like us, they have both teeth for chewing meat and plants alike. They eat predominately fruits and other plant material. However, they will eat bugs, honey, and will even hunt on occasion. Even the less aggressive bonobos have been known to eat eggs and small vertebrates when the opportunity arises.
This is certainly not to suggest that all human behaviors should be identical to that of monkeys. But it is more than relevant to describe the diet of our closest mammalian relatives to get a reference for what a nutritionally superior diet for humans might look like.
One year, an animal rights group made posters for the “Great American Meat-out”. The poster depicted a hairy caveman “savage” gnawing on a raw meaty bone next to a clean-cut white man in a suit eating a salad with utensils. The poster proclaimed something along the lines of “Are you still living in the stone ages?” Not only derogatory on several levels, the image of ancient man; malnourished, dirty and plagued by disease is completely divorced from reality. As described above, hunter-gatherer societies were and are (in the few places left they are allowed to exist) much healthier than modern man and the reasons are simple. One being that their diet was/is composed of fresh, whole, nutrient dense foods, including a proper balance of plant and animal material.
this was written by a friend of a friend whos been Vegan longer then some of us have been born, but this is a really good read and it made me question a lot of things, especially being vegan
INTROSPECTIONS OF A VEGAN SELL-OUT
by Brad Dingman
INTRODUCTION
Food. No matter how far our species attempts to deviate from the natural order from which we are created, we can not get away from certain things. Like every other creature in the animal kingdom, the fact is that we need to eat in order to survive. And like all terrestrial organisms, from the tiniest microorganism to the largest mammal, it is through this link that we are completely and intimately connected to the soil and the sun’s energy, and thus the whole of life.
In modern times, and in the most nonsensical of ways, the life forms that we literally rely upon to survive, have been industrialized and oppressed in ways that are almost unspeakable to anyone who cares about nature. Add to this fact, as the food we consume has been increasingly processed and altered beyond the point of recognition, the human race has gotten sicker and weaker. These combined and inseparable phenomena have prompted a great many lost and confused people to search for answers about what our natural diet is supposed to look like. It is no wonder why diet fads change like the wind and on any given bookshelf labeled “nutrition”, one finds a plethora of diametrically opposing viewpoints about what that means.
After an estimated ten thousand years of dietary degeneration, some feel an answer has emerged to this crisis. And many feel that it is not just a possible answer, but in fact THE answer. It is a movement that has picked up quite a pace in a short couple of decades. It is a trend known as “veganism”.
As a self-proclaimed vegan for twelve years, I can speak endlessly about the benefits I have personally received from following such a lifestyle. I also can speculate with a fair degree of confidence the benefits veganism has to the animals and the environment. This is a topic that many words have been written about, and not the subject of this particular essay. However, it is worth sharing some of the lessons veganism has taught me.
It allowed me to begin making a connection to other aspects of creation. It taught me that not only are we humans animals, but that non-human animals are sentient creatures worthy of respect. It has taught me much about nutrition and lead to a much greater appreciation of what we put into our mouths. Veganism has contributed to an immeasurable increase in the value I personally place in the processes of life.
But there is one more lesson that veganism has directly taught me, that much to the dismay of the vegan community, belongs in an altogether different paragraph than the previous. What veganism has taught me, is that veganism is not “the” answer.
I have embarked upon writing this essay for too many reasons to attempt to articulate. I write it as a source of information for anyone in search of the “perfect” diet. I write it as a sort of rebuttal to many of the misdirected, if not falsified, arguments given to support veganism. (Many of which I have used myself.) I write in hopes of dispelling the myth that anyone who has evolved out of a strict vegan diet is uneducated and lacks conviction. But more than anything, I have come to believe that if people are feeling less than well due to their diet, they must be free to grow out of it without being ostracized by a culture of elitism.
The fact is that while the benefits of veganism are plentiful, it is simply not the only answer to the very complex question at hand. And in fact, it may not even be the most natural or healthful answer. For those of us who honestly care about food issues, animals, and the environment, we must step off the moral pedestals we have fooled ourselves into thinking we stand upon. It is in the interest of our health, in our future, that we embrace tolerance for those who share the same goals, even if not the exact diet.
THE EVOLUTION OF MAN
Not long ago, I was watching a documentary that showed footage of a hunt being carried out by one of the few remaining tribal people living in the Kalahari Desert. Without exaggeration, it left me in a state of awe. It was not because of watching such an alleged barbaric and cruel ritual. Quite the contrary, because it was so incredibly beautiful. Watching the hunter and prey engage in this rhythmic relationship where both parties were in total, unexplainable tune with each other. An eight-hour hunt, the whole while both parties living, breathing and sharing each other’s pain. I cannot think of any activity in modern civilization that even comes close to this closeness with nature.
When I compare this image to that of today’s vegan being glad that pop tarts are vegan and who feed their dogs tofu, it is almost laughable when the latter proclaims a moral superiority over the other. It shows a blatant disrespect for our ancestral roots; a disdain for true nature and an ignorance of science. To my knowledge, out of perhaps thousands of tribes documented from the past or present, there is not a single one that is vegan. And if such a culture ever did exist, it was such an isolated incident that it isn’t even worth noting in such a debate over man’s natural diet. The fact is when humans lived in most harmony with their environment before the dawn of totalitarian agriculture, there were as many described diets as cultures. They were hunters, gatherers, and on occasion, experimented with farming (a practice that was often abandoned when discovered unsustainable). And the one thing they had in common was that they were all omnivorous.
Upon examining the evidence, there is little doubt primitive man ate predominantly fruit, roots, tubers, succulent roots and bulbs, flowers, seeds, and other vegetation for the great majority of our evolutionary chain. It also seems they ate a lot of insects. There is also little doubt that they were opportunists and ate carrion when given the chance. For the great majority of human evolution, our ancestors were scavengers and ate what was available. And even if it was predominantly plants, anyone who claims that meat wasn’t even a small part of early man’s diet is living in a fantasy world. Hunting and fishing as a means to acquire food came later for mankind, but is an inseparable part of our evolutionary history being how long and how universal these practices are, especially when compared to our short time as agriculturists.
Like it or not, regardless of philosophical differences, we are genetically designed to consume at least a small proportion of animal products as did our primitive ancestors.
HUMAN BIOLOGY
Anthropologists and the like who study such things have discovered that primitive humans were taller, stronger, had denser bones and better teeth than modern man. Not only were they physically more robust, but also had little in the way of infectious diseases. Cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses were foreign, if not nonexistent.
We can most easily determine our dietary requirements by simple looking at the composition of our jaws. An adult human has 32 teeth, four of which are canines, the rest designed to process fruits, nuts, seeds, roots, etc. Herbivores don’t have canines. I read in a macrobiotic book once that the ratio of plants to meat that we should consume should be 7 to 1. According to our teeth, that’s about right.
An argument that is common for vegans to use is that our digestive tract is that of an herbivore. Carnivores have much shorter digestive tracts than humans do. I would agree with this statement if it were worded slightly different. Our digestive tracts are MORE like that of an herbivore. What this means is that we are omnivores. Our digestive tract may be better suited to process certain plant material. However, the Inuit people have proven the human ability to digest wild meat. Whale fat, seal meat, fish, and many organs and muscle from animals made up most of their traditional diets. (Despite popular belief, there is evidence that they did eat many plants as well.) Our digestive tract is quite an extraordinary system.
We have the stamina to potentially run long distances. We have brains to develop tools and skills to catch food. We have senses adequate to stalk and find it. We are opportunists in too many ways to dispute the point.
Our closest genetic relatives, the chimpanzees can teach us some lessons about diet as well. Like us, they have both teeth for chewing meat and plants alike. They eat predominately fruits and other plant material. However, they will eat bugs, honey, and will even hunt on occasion. Even the less aggressive bonobos have been known to eat eggs and small vertebrates when the opportunity arises.
This is certainly not to suggest that all human behaviors should be identical to that of monkeys. But it is more than relevant to describe the diet of our closest mammalian relatives to get a reference for what a nutritionally superior diet for humans might look like.
One year, an animal rights group made posters for the “Great American Meat-out”. The poster depicted a hairy caveman “savage” gnawing on a raw meaty bone next to a clean-cut white man in a suit eating a salad with utensils. The poster proclaimed something along the lines of “Are you still living in the stone ages?” Not only derogatory on several levels, the image of ancient man; malnourished, dirty and plagued by disease is completely divorced from reality. As described above, hunter-gatherer societies were and are (in the few places left they are allowed to exist) much healthier than modern man and the reasons are simple. One being that their diet was/is composed of fresh, whole, nutrient dense foods, including a proper balance of plant and animal material.